Here's a teaser shot of the frame I'm working on now. It has been scuffed and is ready for more clear. It has three coats of red and one clear and another light coat of clear over the decals. I'm waiting for Greg Softly to send me a decal.



Yes, it matches my truck.

This is the replacement fork I'm using until I can find something better. It didn't have enough rake, so I cold set it with a piece of pipe and a crude jig.

Grand Bois, I just went to an auto shop to see and if they had any of the products you suggested and just came to the realization that I live in Chicago and spray cans are against the law here. Now I'll have to go to the suburbs to look for stuff.

One more question, how do you protect the cavities against the paint? inside of the BB shell? I see you have something on the seat tube what is that?

I saw on a paint website that they'll ship anywhere but Chicago. That explains it.

That's a piece of pvc pipe that happens to fit the seat tube perfectly. The BB is protected by a pair of old cups screwed in half way with masking tape over the holes. I used masking tape to keep the paint off of the inside of the head tube.

Enamel dries by solvent evaporation from the outside in. It's dust free after a few minutes, but it will be soft on the inside and easily damaged for months. Give it at least a week before assembling the bike and be very careful. Don't wax it or you'll slow the process.

Isn't it too cold in Chicago to paint? It's important that it be at least 68 degrees. High humidity will cause the clear to be milky.

I cover my work stand with a drop cloth, clamp a piece of iron pipe in it vertically and hang the frame on the pipe by the head tube. The weight of the frame will keep it in position on the pipe. I spray the hard to reach areas first. I like to spray the of the tubes with the frame upside down and then flip it over and spray again. The goal is to get the entire frame wet coated at the same time. It's hard to do with rattle cans because they don't put out enough paint. I spray the main tubes last so that any overspray is on the stays. They're easier to rub out.

Don't forget to make sure any pilot lights are out before you start spraying. You don't want to do any human flash welding.....

This week is going to be great, 75° and low humidity. I just want to prime it this week. My father-in-law builds custom guitars so he'll help me with the top and clear coats in a couple of weeks.

You can pick up naval jelly (phosphoric acid) in the paint dept. at Home Depot or Lowes. Never used it on a bike, but used it on a tractor I painted a couple of years ago. Still have had no problems with the rust bleeding back out. It will probably take multiple applications, but it seems to work.

Hold it. Doesn't Naval Jelly peel chrome too? Mind you, this frame has chrome headlugs.

-Kurt

I don't know of anything you can buy that peels chrome. Having chrome removed is expensive. That's why re-chroming costs more than chroming. It has to be ground off.

Also don't think the naval jelly will peel the chrome. It might etch it, though so I'd avoid the chromed areas as much as possible. It will etch the steel surfaces and make a nice base for the primer.